The Federal Government has indicated its decision to inaugurate an inter-ministerial committee to curb the activities of fake degrees mills today, Tuesday.
The inauguration of the committee to curb the activities of fake degrees mills is scheduled to be coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja.
The ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Ben Goong, made this known in a notice sent to journalists in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The statement read, “Education Minister, Prof.Tahir Mamman, will this afternoon, inaugurate an inter-ministerial committee on fake degrees mills.”
Reports has it that the activities of fake degrees mills came to the fore in Nigeria following an investigative report by a reporter, Umar Audu, with the Daily Nigerian newspaper on the activities of degree mills in Benin Republic and Togo.
Audu revealed how he obtained a degree within six weeks and even proceeded to embark on mandatory youth service under the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
Audu said he approached the syndicate that specialises in selling certificates of fake degrees in December 2022 and graduated in February 2023. With this, he claimed that he was issued a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication certificate from the Ecole Superieure de Gestion et de Technologies, Cotonou, Benin Republic.
The report which exposed the illegalities of sale of fake degrees perpetrated by some tertiary institutions in the West African states led to the Nigerian government placing a ban on the accreditation and evaluation of degrees from Benin Republic and Togo.
Mamman later said the Federal Government would further extend its searchlight to institutions in other African countries such as Ghana.
About 10,900 Nigerian students studying in Beninois and Togolese universities might be affected by the Nigerian government ban, according to statistics provided by the National Association of Nigerian Students in Benin Republic and Togo.
The National Universities Commission, the regulatory body of universities in Nigeria revealed that no fewer than 18 out of the 58 universities whose operations have been suspended in Nigeria are foreign-owned.
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